LiarVB-A worm spreads via USB flash drives

Permalink: LiarVB-A worm spreads via USB flash drives

Sophos has released details the LiarVB-A worm, which copies itself onto removable drives, such as USB Flash drives and floppy disks. It also spreads via network shares.

Unlike most malware, which is designed to make money for hackers, the LiarVB-A worm aims to spread information about Aids and HIV.

Although it carries a message claiming that the worm won’t harm the computer, it does make changes to a computers setting and overwrite files.

The worm creates a hidden file called ‘autorun.inf’ to ensure that a copy of the worm is run the next time the drive is connected to a Windows PC.

When it has penetrated a system, the worm adds an HTML file containing a message about Aids and HIV to the user’s drive.

Sophos is advising people to disable the autorun facility in Windows to prevent removable devices such as USB keys and CD-Roms from automatically launching when attached to a PC.